UVM2003 wrote:I said arguably - and personally it's EASILY the best craft city.

I don't think you can make a case for any city. It's a stupid thing to argue and even try to crown a "best place to get craft beer." So much craft is local that you're missing out if you only try what gets distributed to one city.

With enough information, it's an arguable point - just like anything else.

Yeah, had it last winter. Amazing. Just read that they'll be brewing a darker IPA in December called El Jefe which would probably also be worth a try. McNeills is another pretty good small brewery out of Vermont. Im sure UVM can offer other good suggestions. Whenever my parents come to visit they bring some good stuff.

UVM2003 wrote:I said arguably - and personally it's EASILY the best craft city.

I don't think you can make a case for any city. It's a stupid thing to argue and even try to crown a "best place to get craft beer." So much craft is local that you're missing out if you only try what gets distributed to one city.

I think his point was that Philly has a greater variety of craft brews available from all over the place. Not just local, but hard to find stuff from across the country as well.

So I picked up a case of the Budweiser Project 12 beers. If you haven't seen it, they had each Bud brewery (12 of them) come up with their own brew and whittled it down to 3 winners. The three that made it are an amber ale (6%) from Los Angeles, a light amber bourbon barrel lager (5.5%) from Williamsburg, and a traditional gold lager (6%) from St Louis.

UVM2003 wrote:I said arguably - and personally it's EASILY the best craft city.

I don't think you can make a case for any city. It's a stupid thing to argue and even try to crown a "best place to get craft beer." So much craft is local that you're missing out if you only try what gets distributed to one city.

I think his point was that Philly has a greater variety of craft brews available from all over the place. Not just local, but hard to find stuff from across the country as well.

Yes - this is what I was alluding too. By no means am I advocating ignoring local craft. For example, Pittsburgh has had an uptick in brewers recently. Helltown, out of Youngwood, is doing amazing things. I didn't mean to start a pissing match, I'm just a pretty big beer geek with a fondness for what Philly has to offer for a craft scene in the US, be it a blend of local (victory, for example) or the national/international offerings.

As for other VT stuff - obviously Alchemist Heady Topper has been mentioned is probably the pinnacle of double IPAs at the moment. Hill Farmstead, which is a small brewery located in Greensboro Bend, VT, puts out some of the best saisons and American wilds along with otherwordly IPAs and DIPAs. Now, usually you have to travel to the brewery to get their brews, but a few places in and around Burlington will have some of the year round offerings. The brewer, Shaun Hill, is the former brewmaster of Shed in Stowe and really has honed his craft so that he's now one of the leading brewers in the country, along the likes of Vinnie Cilruzo of Russian River.

Now - who homebrews? I'm about 30 minutes into the boil of a chocolate oatmeal stout that I'm going to age on Blantons soaked American oak. Should be interesting.

Full Pint Night of the Living Stout. Hmm. Odd beer. Hops dominate the smell, taste is malts/coffee, distinctly bitter hops after taste lingers on the tongue (too long). Not sure I'm much of a fan, but then again, I can't handle hops too well so it figures I wouldn't like it.

bhaw wrote:So I picked up a case of the Budweiser Project 12 beers. If you haven't seen it, they had each Bud brewery (12 of them) come up with their own brew and whittled it down to 3 winners. The three that made it are an amber ale (6%) from Los Angeles, a light amber bourbon barrel lager (5.5%) from Williamsburg, and a traditional gold lager (6%) from St Louis.

Just opened the amber, and it's actually pretty good.

The case was $12 at WalMart.

Amber Ale > Bourbon Barrel > Gold Lager

For Budweiser, these were pretty good. I'd suggest picking up a pack and trying if you want to take a break from you microbrews without really taking a break.

Well, I know never to go back to W.R. Hickeys here in State College. Walked in and was immediately asked for ID, so I gave it to the guy. He hands it back and says "What do you want?" I said I'm not sure that I'd like to look around a little bit. "Do you know what kind you want?" I said I wasn't sure again and mention that I'll likely end up with a variety pack. "Well the only variety packs we have are Shock Top and Magic Hat, so do you want one of those?" I again mention that I'd like to just look around, and he finally leaves me alone. I look around a bit and see multiple variety packs and settle on Sam Adams Winter Classics. I pick it up and start carrying it to the counter and the guy comes back, "We'll get that cold out of the back for you." I tell him no thanks, I'd rather have the warm one as I can't fit it all in my fridge. He says, "Nah man, I'll go get the cold ones for you." I figure, I've had it with this place, I'll just take the beer and get out. It's pasteurized beer anyways, so cold, warm, cold won't effect it. I finally go to pay and I know for a fact that this beer is selling at a six pack shop for $18 for a 12 pack. I'm getting two 12 packs, so I'm thinking that this is a distributor, should be $36 or less, right? $40. Like I said, never going there again.

Does anyone know if there is any stuff available in PA that someone else would seek out in trade? I guess maybe something like the Weyerbacher Black that was a brewery only limited release? I am just looking for a way to get my hands on some of the stuff I'd like to try but can't get around here.

Fatheads bottles their Headhunter IPA. It just won the West Coast IPA contest this year, so I'd be willing to bet there's a big demand for it around the country. Last time I talked to the guy at the brewery (in Cleveland) he said that they started distributing in the Cleveland area all the way out to Western PA. Might be something to keep an eye out for. Maybe stop by the Southside and see if anyone at that Fatheads location knows where to get bottles.

count2infinity wrote:Fatheads bottles their Headhunter IPA. It just won the West Coast IPA contest this year, so I'd be willing to bet there's a big demand for it around the country. Last time I talked to the guy at the brewery (in Cleveland) he said that they started distributing in the Cleveland area all the way out to Western PA. Might be something to keep an eye out for. Maybe stop by the Southside and see if anyone at that Fatheads location knows where to get bottles.

Good call. My uncle is a huge hop head and thinks its one of the best in the world.

shock top end of the world midnight wheat-it says it's a wheat beer with chocolate malt, chili, and spices. i kind of got carmelly aftertaste, but couldnt really pick up any other flavors. more of a wheaty smell than a wheaty taste. certainly drinkable, but nothing to write home about. i will say that it hides the alcohol taste pretty well for a 6%

flying dog dogtoberfest marzen- i actually think this one is pretty good. i might actually prefer it to the sam adams octoberfest. i find flying dog to be a totally underrated brand. i LOVE their hefeweizen, and this one is pretty enjoyable too.

UVM2003 wrote:I said arguably - and personally it's EASILY the best craft city.

But since you questioned my logic: its the Only place outside of NorCal that gets Pliny the younger on release as well as constant barrels of Elder. Cantillon? Yep, all the time. Only place outside of Greensboro Bend that gets Hill Farmstead. Heady topper too. Good luck finding that outside of the cannery.

San Fran is probably the only city in the country that could compete with the distribution that Philly sees.

UVM2003 wrote:I said arguably - and personally it's EASILY the best craft city.

But since you questioned my logic: its the Only place outside of NorCal that gets Pliny the younger on release as well as constant barrels of Elder. Cantillon? Yep, all the time. Only place outside of Greensboro Bend that gets Hill Farmstead. Heady topper too. Good luck finding that outside of the cannery.

San Fran is probably the only city in the country that could compete with the distribution that Philly sees.

Asheville, Austin, and Portland all have craft scenes that blow Philly out of the water. Asheville alone has at least a dozen breweries in town.

Yes, Asheville has breweries, but are there places you can get the wide variety of craft brews there? If so, I haven't seen it (certainly possible). Shops I've been to there seem pretty limited to mostly local stuff.